Iraq begins offensive to retake Mosul

baghdad — The Iraqi army said on Thursday its troops and allied militia had launched what is expected to be a long and difficult offensive to retake the second city of Mosul, the Daesh group’s main hub in Iraq.

The army and the Popular Mobilisation paramilitary force “have begun the first phase of conquest operations” in the northern Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital, Iraq’s joint operations command said in a statement.

It said four villages had been taken between the town of Qayyarah, which is still held by Daesh, and Makhmur, where US-backed Iraqi forces have been massing in recent weeks.

The army did not say how long this phase of the operation was expected to take and Iraqi forces still look far from being in a position to take the city itself.

As they have done in battles to retake cities like Ramadi and Tikrit, Iraqi forces are expected to work slowly and deliberately to cut off supply lines to Mosul before launching an assault on the city.

Thousands of troops were deployed in February to a base in Makhmur, some 70km southeast of Mosul, in preparation for the offensive.

Peshmerga fighters of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region have also been heavily involved in the campaign against Daesh in northern Iraq.

The peshmerga deputy commander for the sector, Araz Mirkhan, confirmed on Thursday that the offensive had started. “Iraq forces in Makhmur have begun their advance towards Qayyarah to the south of Mosul,” he said. “The advance has allowed us to liberate four or five villages from the Daesh terrorists,” he added.